Mindfulness has become a widespread practice in America, with many of its meditative approaches rooted in the power of self-acceptance or the ability to accept both good and bad feelings. The goal, according to Harvard professor of Chinese History Michael Puett, is to be able to move through the day without letting the little things get to you. But Puett, who is also the co-author of The Path, said this is not how ancient philosophers intended it.

“Chinese philosophers will, on the contrary, push strongly that no, you actually don’t want to be too comfortable with the world as it is, or with interactions as they are, or with things you're doing," Puett said in an interview with Big Think. “...They would say, no, you should actually be trianing yourself to respond in ways that could affect situations for the better."

The latter idea is what leads to fundamental change, something Americans miss out on when they focus solely on self-acceptance. It's also much closer to how mindfulness was original practiced before Americans adapted it and turned it into the meditative approach many of us know and love today.

That's not to say the mindfulness exercises Americans have grown a custom to are bad, but rather these exercises could be even more beneficial if also focused on methods of growth and improvement. At the end of the day, transformation is the ultimate goal of mindfulness, which requires both self-acceptance and change.

There's a seemingly endless list of mental and emotional benefits people can reap from practicing mindfulness. According to the American Psychological Association, it improves everything from stress, to memory, focus, cognition, and emotional reactivity.

“Train yourself to be something better than who you were at birth,” Puett said. “If we stick to what we’re naturally meant to be, Chinese philosophers would say that’s extremely constraining to what we can do.”